In Newmarket: EPA issues final nitrogen discharge permit

Tuesday

Nov 20, 2012 at 3:15 AMNov 20, 2012 at 5:41 AM

By Michelle Kingstonmkingston@fosters.com

NEWMARKET – The Environmental Protection Agency issued the first final nitrogen discharge permit of the Great Bay Municipal Coalition communities to Newmarket, claiming it to be “as stringent as necessary.”

The National Pollution Discharge Elimination System permit, issued by the EPA on Friday, Nov. 16, for Newmarket's wastewater treatment plant, calls for the nitrogen levels to be decreased to 3 milligrams per liter, a limit that will eventually be put in effect and force all of the Coalition communities to spend millions of dollars to upgrade their facilities in order to meet this requirement.

The other Coalition communities of Dover, Rochester, Exeter and Portsmouth are expecting their permits within the next two years. Newmarket's permit is the first of 14 expired NH permits in the Great Bay watershed that EPA will be reissuing, with more limits on the amount of nitrogen allowed to be discharged from sewage treatment plants.

The issuance of the permit from EPA comes after months of discussions with those concerned with the Great Bay watershed and the cost and science behind the new permit.

According to a public statement, “EPA believes that the lengthy discussions have been worthwhile and have resulted in an adaptive management approach that will allow Newmarket to make incremental improvements to their sewage treatment plant, which will help to control costs, and allow time for concurrent efforts by Newmarket and others in the Lamprey River watershed to reduce other sources of nitrogen beyond the sewage treatment plant discharge.”

The Lamprey River, according to a public statement, has “high levels of nitrogen and low levels of dissolved oxygen as a result of sewage discharges and run-off from developed lands in the watershed.”

After reviewing comments on the draft permit between discussions Newmarket has had with the EPA, the EPA has changed the monthly total nitrogen limit to a rolling seasonal average.

Aside from this change, EPA stands with their requirements, stating, in a public statement, that “a nitrogen limit of 3.0 mg/l is as stringent as necessary to ensure compliance with applicable water quality standards, including New Hampshire's narrative nutrient criterion.”